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Bavaria decided to construct both the Suez and the Panama-canal. First we had to get Egypt and Colombia into our SoI, then use parts of our large cash reserves (about 3 mio.). Construction is well underway.
After a peaceful decade, a first great European War broke out when France decided to take Flanders from Prussia. Due to a complicated web of alliances, the scope of this war is beyond anything the world has ever witnessed.

The balance of power is a bit confusing, because France fields the by far biggest army in the world with over 400 brigades (three times more than Prussia!), while Prussia and the UK rule the waves.

France and Austria start a successful pincer movement, Prussia and UK blockade every enemy port. Bavaria decides to stay out of the war for now. When Switzerland moved her large army into Prussia though, grabbing a piece of Swiss cheese (or rather iron and coal) is too tempting. So I declared war on Switzerland and quickly get attacked by France as well.

In a pyrrhic victory and one defeat, France loses 320.000 men! They are still powerful though. Was my intervention too soon or did it tip the scale in favour of Prussia? Only time will tell and this war is far from over. Only one thing is clear, Europe will never be the same again. France might lose her hegemony in the world, Bavaria might go down in flames... to be continued.

(don't be irritated by the war score, it's caused by naval blockades!)

Did the Great War happen all by its own, or did you have to "cheat" to trigger it too?

If it happened on its own, it would partly answer your criticism about lots of alliances causing a geopolitical stalemate. Well, as far as I'm concerned it's perfectly okay that alliance-building like that causes tense stalemates and no wars for a while, if it does actually happen eventually and causes all hell to break loose. That's pretty much WW1 in a nutshell.

So.. digital distribution equals communism?
I disagree SO MUCH that I have to close this thread now.
-Kallocain

I granted my population a minor social reform to pacify the troublemakers. All force would be needed to repell France. By 1891 the relentless French attacks bled out the Grande Armee and I was able to occupy all of mainland France and Switzerland. Meanwhile Prussia signed a seperate peace deal, gaining Alsace-Lorraine and the Provence!

The situation got more and more dire for France. War exhaustion mounting, desperate amphibious landings let to the destruction of the last armies and will to continue the fighting.

Two more years of occupation with no resistance left, in 1893 France had to surrender to my terms: All of Switzerland and Savoie. Slowly Bavaria is crawling to the sea.

The naval access is getting more vital for me due to the construction of the Suez and Panama-canal, the latter being finished already. After the peace deal, France was swept by communist rebels.

Not all was splendid for Bavaria though. Quickly Swiss Nationalists mounted to a whooping 1.23 million (basically the entire populace) and Bavarian communists reached 600.000. The revolution followed promptly.

Despite unfavourable terrain in Switzerland, my battle-hardened forces, experienced leaders and modern army techs led to a swift and thorough annihilation of all resistance. From then on, the Swiss will was broken for good.

The Great European War saw as many victors as losers. One nation profited most - fittingly a neutral one - the USA. This is the new world order in 1894, France dropped from 1st to 4th:

Actually, the only thing the canals require is that the country that owns the canal province is in your sphere of influence. And that's how it was in vanilla as well. However, when the canal is finished, you gain ownership of the province.

So.. digital distribution equals communism?
I disagree SO MUCH that I have to close this thread now.
-Kallocain

France would have crushed everything if you wouldn't have backstabbed them...
Now the Prussians are stronger than ever and even hold the Provence..
Now it's time to show the Prussians who's boss,

You're exactly correct! France would have used their 4:1 numerical superiority on land to destroy Prussia. I had to hedge my bets and decide who's victory is more favourable for Bavaria. Since France was too powerful to begin with, a Prussian victory would balance matters. It shouldn't happen though that France has over 400 brigades and a small navy while Prussia fields a mere 120 brigades and over 200 ships. If anything it should be vice versa.

I might be able to show Prussia who's boss. After all I got no naval access, so their vast fleet would be useless!
Or would it be better to attack Sardinia-Piedmont for the Mediterranean access? I got two ports in Suez and Panama, but no way to reach them. BTW. I only sphered both which fulfills the requirements in both vanilla and the mod as Konrad has pointed out already.

I say let th prussians be, and backstab them when they are otherwise occupied. Alsace Lorraine needs to be south German.

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.-Isa 41:10For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.-John 3:16
-------------------------------My machine specs: i7 2600 @ 3.4 GHz, 16 GB DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD6870 with 1 GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit
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My new AAR: Norgesveldet - A history of the Norwegian kings

Let's begin with another part of the world, thus far ignored. Africa turned into a pretty surprising, seemingly random piece. We're witnessing odd colonial endeavours by Hanover and Sicily!

In Germany the word of Bavaria's greatness has spread. Why the people would approach me of all people to form a democratic German Empire, remains a mystery. Thus far I've ruled Bavaria with an iron fist and rather stomp an uprising than giving my people political freedoms they can't handle anyways.

This offer though would require careful consideration. What is there to gain? I can annex every German minor in my SoI. Unfortunately there is none in my SoI. There is no real upside for me. On the contrary, the disadvantages are numerous:
1. +10 infamy -> further delay conquests!
2. Turn into a democracy
3. Giving up all political reforms
4. Large communist revolts are to be expected (modern political reforms, no social reforms -> commie revolution)
5. Allowing free elections is a can of worms better left unopened.

I declined the unification of a small German Empire, basically consisting of Bavaria's current possessions.

Instead, Bavaria opted for expansion. First kick France out of Sardinia's SoI, then blitz the unprepared Italians by quickly occupying each province before they could mobilize. This way I'll only lead defensive battles which can quickly be reinforced if needed. To make a long story short. Some 40 disorganized, mobilized Sardinian units quickly ceased to exist and we finally got the precious access to the sea!!!
Hurra, Hurra, Bavaria!

Wow, you just became a buffer between Austria and France! This means you'll get a lot of access requests in the future! How's your Austrian relations? Bet they're not too happy if you further east in Italy.

I say, go after Austria next. Steal what they have left of Bohemia and then take their other border territories with you if you have the strength to do so. Then, after you have what you want from Austria, turn and attack Prussia.

1.5 million commie rebels forced me to conduct a huge bloodshed. On the upside, it bought me several years of interior peace.

Then out of nowhere, Prussia attacks Austria with the help of the UK and many others. I only interfered by giving Austria's allies access while denying the same treat to Prussia's friends.

With a combined military power of 803 (Prussian alliance) to 263 (Austrian alliance) and the wargoal of acquiring "Österreich", this will surely lead to Austria's demise.
Their only hope is their large landforce compared to Prussia.

Lo' and behold! Austria is blitzing Prussia, occupying half of the aggressor's territory. Unfortunately, the war ends with an unspectacular white peace soon thereafter. Probably due to the big difference in military score despite Austria's territorial gains.

This could have been the start of future Great Wars, maybe my diplomatic help tipped the scale in favour of Austria. Obviously I have an interest in a balance of Central European powers.

The balance of powers in 1910:

The USA is by far the most powerful nation on the planet. Will we witness a World War for global hegemony in the near future?
Having stayed under the radar for a decade, my neighbours will soon have forgotten my ill deeds. Time for new conquests.

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.-Isa 41:10For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.-John 3:16
-------------------------------My machine specs: i7 2600 @ 3.4 GHz, 16 GB DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD6870 with 1 GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit
-------------------------------
My new AAR: Norgesveldet - A history of the Norwegian kings